Life's decisions
by Tihana
Summary: A Tony and Michelle story, post season 4. Reviews are always appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Life's Decisions

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own any of the 24 characters because if I did, Tony and Michelle's story would've ended with season 4. All the other characters that don't appear in 24 are my own creation. Any similarity to either other fictitious characters or real people is pure coincidence. None of my ideas are based on the work of others, any similarity is also coincidence._

**Author note: **_You should watch season 4 before reading this because you'll be spoiled otherwise. I also changed a lot of season 4's end because this story starts at the end of it with Tony and Michelle's hug in episode 24. _

_For those who didn't watch it, I suggest you do because you might not understand parts of the story as I won't be explaining season 4 in any more details than I need to tell Tony and Michelle's part of it. This is another story of mine with a happy ending Tony and Michelle deserved. Stuff they got just isn't fair, and I don't mean just season 5, but I won't rant here. Enjoy the story and please let me know what you think. _

**1.**

"_It's over."_ His words kept ringing in her ears, her hands clutching his shirt as she held him tightly, not wanting to let go, afraid she was dreaming. Afraid that in a few minutes the dream would end and she'd wake up all alone in tears, like she woke up so many times during the past six months. However, this time she knew she wasn't dreaming, this time he was back in her arms and she was sure it would be forever.

Michelle separated herself from Tony only enough so she could look into his eyes. When he felt her moving away Tony straightened up too, removing his face from her neck and looking back into her eyes.

She didn't say anything; she just smiled with a tiny smile and he smiled back, his smile as tiny as hers.

"_It shouldn't feel awkward__ and it shouldn't be hard to go back to what we used to be. This is still us, just like before, and we're still the love of each other's lives,"_ Michelle thought to herself. _"We can get through anything together because we still love each other."_

As if Tony read her mind he said, "I love you; I love you so much. I never stopped loving you."

Michelle smiled widely this time, hugging him tightly again, "I love you too sweetheart, so much; I never stopped loving you either. I missed you more than I can say."

"I missed you too sweetheart, so much," Tony replied, kissing her neck. Looking into her eyes again he said, "Let's go."

"Go?"

"Yeah, let's get out of here, now."

"Tony, we can't go. I still have a ton of paperwork to do and reports to take care, as well as debriefs to finish… I cannot just go. I'm still the Director of CTU, if only for today, which means I cannot leave yet."

"Yeah, you can. Bill is here; he's more than capable of handling things on his own."

"I know, but I still have things to do, even though he's here, and you know it. You have to be debriefed too and…"

Tony cupped her face, gently kissing her lips, "I know, but we need to talk. We'll come back later and take care of everything, but right now, all I need is some time alone with you after this hell. I still can't believe I got you back and I need to hold you in my arms in peace, to let this miracle settle in."

Michelle smiled, caressing his face, "it is a miracle and I can't believe it either. I want to be alone with you too, more than anything."

They hugged each other tightly, but before Tony and Michelle could continue their conversation, they heard a cough behind them. Turning around they saw Bill Buchannan standing there looking embarrassed, with a folder in his hand. They separated from their hug and Michelle took Tony's hand in hers and squeezed it tightly before Tony squeezed hers back.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to interrupt you. I was on my way to give this to Chloe," Bill said, showing them the folder.

"It's okay Bill; I was just about to go see you anyway. Tony and I want to leave for couple of hours; we really need to talk in private. Before you say anything, I assure you, we'll come back and finish what we need to as well as debrief Tony."

"I suppose I could let you go for a while, but we do need you both back."

"Of course and we will be back; we just need some time alone. Tony needs to change too and we need to eat something. We know what our duties are and we'll return, Bill."

"Okay, you can go."

"Thank you Bill," Michelle said.

"Yeah, thank you." Tony added.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you're okay, Tony. You did a great job today, you were a major asset and you helped us a lot. I'm sorry if I was hostile at the beginning; I assure you I won't be anymore. I'll make sure everyone knows what an outstanding job you did. You could even work here again, if you want to."

"Thank you Bill, that means a lot to me. Sorry about my hostility too, it won't happen again. Thank you for the offer, but I won't be doing CTU or CTU related work anymore. Michelle and I decided to leave this life forever and these last events only confirmed our decision," Tony looked at Michelle who smiled to him, gently squeezing his hand.

"I'm glad you two decided to remain together and sort out your problems. It will be a shame to lose agents like the two of you, but it is your decision and I respect it. I hope you'll be happy with whatever you do in future, you both deserve to be happy."

"Thank you Bill. We'll see you in couple of hours." Michelle said.

"See you in couple of hours," Bill replied and walked away.

When they were alone again, Michelle asked, "Do you want to go change first or…?"

"No, I just want to get out of here as soon as possible and be alone with you. We could grab something to eat and I could change at your place… if that's okay with you?"

"Sounds perfect," Michelle kissed him, "let's get out of here."

"Let's go," Tony replied happily.

He extended his hand towards hers and Michelle took it, kissed and squeezed it tightly as they walked out of CTU.

When they reached the parking lot, Michelle gave Tony the keys.

"You drive," she smiled.

"Okay," Tony replied, kissing her one more time.

They didn't say anything to one other for a while, still feeling a bit awkward. Neither of them could believe what was happening so they just looked at each other from time to time with a constant smile on both of their faces.

Suddenly, Tony pulled the car to the side of the road and got out. He came around and opened the passenger door, extending his hand towards Michelle. Surprised, Michelle took his hand. Tony gently pulled her out of the car and picked her up in his arms, spinning her around, holding her tightly.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again. I missed you so much; I love you," he said, burying his face in her neck. "I love you so much. I so missed saying that. I missed it all."

"I missed it all too," she replied happily. "I love you Tony; I love you so much. I never thought I'd see you again either. This whole thing seems like a dream. I keep wondering when I'll wake up and realize it isn't real."

Tony lifted his head and looked deeply into her eyes, "you are awake; we're both awake. We're together again and we're staying together this time," he smiled.

"Good," she replied, kissing him passionately. "I don't think I could bear losing you ever again."

"You won't sweetheart, I promise. I don't think I could take it again either," he replied, burying his face back in her neck again, kissing it.

Michelle gently stroked his back; she didn't want to say anything, not wanting to bring up a hurting matter. After couple of minutes, she picked up the courage and asked in a barely audible voice, "What about her?"

"Her?" Tony asked, completely lost in her arms. "You mean the woman who abducted me? I already told you that you didn't do anything wrong. Don't think about it anymore. There's no need for you to worry yourself about it. It's over," he kissed her neck again.

"No Tony, although we'll have to talk about that later too, not that woman," Michelle replied, still gently stroking the back of his head.

"What woman then?" Tony lifted his head from her neck and looked into her eyes. When he saw the tears filled look in them, he remembered what woman Michelle was talking about. Before he managed to say anything, Michelle said in the same barely audible voice, "The woman you're living with."

Tony felt like someone stabbed him in the heart. Michelle was his life, the last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her or cause her any pain and he knew how much this was hurting her. He hated being the one causing it.

Jen was only last thing added to the list of things he put her through since he got out of prison. He hated himself for what he did to her and he hated himself for being so stupid and letting it all happen in the first place.

"Michelle… I don't think I'll ever be able to apologize enough times for the way I acted when I came back from prison. I'll spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you, the way I should've done from the start instead of doing what I did. I'll change everything I messed up and make it all better. You won't have to worry about any of it anymore; I promise," he gently kissed her lips and continued.

"However, you don't have to worry about Jen; you don't even have to think about her. She's not important to me, not in the way you're worried about. She's a good woman, who tried to help me, but she never stood a chance and knew it all along. She means nothing to me; she's a friend, that's all."

"A friend? You don't have to change the story just because we're back together and you're trying to protect me. It wouldn't be strange if you had a relationship during the six months we were apart, and it doesn't matter if you did. I just want to know if I'm going to lose you because of it," she looked into his eyes. Even though she was worried, just by looking into his eyes Michelle knew she wouldn't lose him, not this time around so she tried her best to hide it.

"You won't; you'll never lose me. You're my whole life, my only love, that didn't change and it never will. I'm not trying to change the story. I'd never do that and if I want our life to go back to what it used to be, this isn't a moment to start either. Jen was never anything more than a friend even though she wanted to be more. When I lost you, I lost myself even more and somehow she showed up. I didn't care about anything, so when she offered to help me, I accepted.

One night when I was drunk, like every night…" Tony looked uncomfortable while trying to say what was on his mind, so he paused.

Michelle caressed his face and smiled, encouraging him to continue; he smiled back and continued, "And we got close to having sex for the first time. Even though we made out more then once when things would move any further… I would make all kinds of excuses why I didn't want to have sex with her, but that night I was even more drunk than usual… I looked at her and saw you. I saw you smiling to me and I thought for a second that you were back, that I was about to make love to you again and be back in your loving arms… I told you that I loved you… that I missed you and asked you to forgive me… I called her with your name … I was so out of it that I was sure it was you."

"Oh honey," Michelle kept gently stroking his face.

"It was one month after I moved in with her. She just stopped me and I realized it was her and not you… I tried to apologize but there wasn't much I could say since what I told her in that moment was true. I couldn't hide it, so I told her that I loved you with all my heart and that I always would. We lived together for another four months, but nothing much changed. She kept me with her, kept helping me, hoping I'd forget about you, but our relationship never changed. It just kept getting colder; I was moving out in couple of days anyway, because neither of us could live in that manner anymore. I stayed far too long in her place as it was and I feel so bad about acting that way and I'll pay her back for all her help. You have to believe me though honey, that's how our relationship was; it never got to be anything more than that. I did live with her during all these months, but I love you too much to have anything serious with anyone else, you didn't leave my mind for a second. Please believe me; you have nothing to worry about."

Michelle just hugged him, "I believe you", she whispered.

"I tell you what," he said looking into her eyes again. "Let's drive by her place now. I'll take my things and leave her a note."

"Tony, that might not be a good idea; you should say goodbye to her properly. It sounds like she was there for you when I wasn't."

"Only because I acted like an idiot and chased you away. I don't blame you for leaving; I understand why you did. I'll never forgive myself for the way I acted and for the way I treated you. I acted like a pig and you deserve the best. I missed you so much when you left; it hurt so badly. Even though I knew better, I talked myself into believing that you left me. It was easier that way, instead of going after you, which is what I wanted to do. I can't believe I did that; I can't believe I ended up saying you left me, when it was the other way around. I was gone long before you left. I'm so sorry for everything."

"Stop apologizing; you're not the only one to blame in all of this. We're together again and things will be different from now on," she smiled.

"Yeah, they sure will be, sweetheart," he kissed her. "Even though we need to get back to this, we better stop for now. We're standing on the side of the road and it looks like it will start raining again. I just wanted to hold you in my arms, clear a couple of basic things and tell you that everything will be okay this time around. Most importantly, I wanted to make sure you how much I love you."

"I love you too, so much. I'm glad you did; I hated feeling awkward around you. It feels so horrible. I never again want to feel that way when I'm with you."

"Neither do I, sweetheart. We're together and we'll be as happy as we used to be. Even though we have so much to talk about still, I'm sure we'll be okay."

"We do have a lot to talk about, I have so many things I want to deal with and apologize for… I know we'll be okay though," she kissed him, "just by looking into your eyes."

"I know it too. There's nothing you need to apologize for. Like I told you hours ago, I'm the one who owes you apologies, lots of them."

Michelle caressed his face, "No you don't, and I know you think I don't either, but… We'll talk about it all later. We better go now; we should get you out of these clothes and eat something. I'm hungry and I'm sure you are too. We also have to go back to CTU."

"Yeah, we do. I still want to go by Jen's house though. My clothes are there and I want to take it all out of the house. I never want to go back there or set foot inside. I want to close this chapter of our lives forever."

Knowing she wouldn't change his mind, Michelle smiled and said, "Okay, but you should leave her a note and tell her you'll talk to her properly soon."

"You're so incredible. I'll do that," Tony replied and kissed Michelle passionately, "I love you so much."

"I love you too."

"Let's go."

Tony and Michelle got back into the car and drove to Jen's house. They smiled more freely to each other this time. The slight awkwardness from before was completely gone. Stopping at a red light, Tony took Michelle's hand and kissed it, looking into her eyes lovingly, "things will go back to the way they were this time, I promise."

"I don't want them to."

"You don't?"

"No, I only want our private life and our love to be same as before. I want the rest of our life to be different. I want to start something on our own, away from that old life, just like you said before you left to get that woman. I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore and I don't want to risk losing you ever again, for as long as I live."

Tony smiled, "I don't want to risk losing you again either. I want exactly the same things you do and we will have it all."

"I know," Michelle replied.

They arrived at Jen's house couple of minutes later. Michelle decided to stay in the car; she didn't want to meet the woman Tony shared the last couple of months with or see where he lived. She wanted it all to be in the past and she didn't want to have anything to do with it anymore.

Tony kissed Michelle and caressed her face, "I'll be right back sweetheart," he smiled and got out of the car.

Unlocking the door, he walked inside the house and found Jen sitting on the couch.

"Hey, what are you doing up?"

"You think I could sleep after our last conversation?"

"You've been sitting there all this time? Shouldn't you be going to work soon?"

"Yeah, I have to go soon, but like you care what I do anyway. What are you doing here?"

"I came to get my things and say goodbye to you. You knew I was leaving in couple of days, but I decided to leave now, I…"

"You're back with her, you don't have to go around it," Jen interrupted him. "I can see it in your eyes. You look happier than you've been in all these months and you've been with her for maybe couple of hours."

"I'm sorry Jen. I didn't expect to ever see her again and when I did… all my anger was gone and the reason to be happy came back with her. I don't miss the big piece of me anymore, I'm a whole person when she's with me…" he stopped, when he saw how Jen was looking at him, realizing what he was saying.

"I'm sorry Jen, but you know how I feel about her. You know how much I love her… Even though I acted like a jerk and kept repeating she left me and didn't care about me, you knew that wasn't true because I told you the truth months ago. You knew I was saying it all so it would make me feel better, even though it didn't. You knew my true feelings for her perfectly well. I told you how much I loved her more than once. This shouldn't come as a surprise to you."

"I knew it and I knew we'd never be anything more than we were. You were apart from her for months and we didn't make love even once; you hardly even touched me. I doubt she left your mind for a second. You kept looking at that picture of the two of you together in your wallet; I noticed it more than once, even though you tried to hide it from me. Even though you acted like nothing from the past mattered, it was obvious how much you loved her, missed her and wanted her back; a blind person would see it. I know all of that, but it still hurts."

"I know it does and I'm sorry. I wish I could change what I did to both you and her. I hurt you both and I'm sorry. I can't fix our problems, because we never stood a chance, but I can fix it all with her. I want that more than anything, and that's what I'll do. You know I was leaving in a few days anyway. I'm leaving now, only with her."

"I know and I want you to be happy."

"Thank you Jen. When I get back on my feet, I'll send you the money for everything you paid for me."

"You don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do. It's not fair that you were paying for me. It's not fair that you kept doing it and I want to pay you back."

"I did it because I wanted to do it."

"I know and I want to do this; please let me pay you back."

"Okay Tony, fine. Once you're back on your feet, you can repay me."

"I will; I promise. I'm sorry, but I have to go now. I just needed to pick my things up and leave. My wife is waiting for me; we still have so much to do and we don't have a lot of time."

"My wife…" Jen snorted. "Your eyes light up when you even mention her, even though you were apart for so long and you're not married anymore. You still call her that."

"That's because she's still my wife in my heart and she always will be. Hopefully, she'll agree to marry me again soon. We belong together and we never should've separated in the first place, but I'll fix it all," Tony said without thinking; he regretted saying it when he saw the expression on Jen's face again. "I'm sorry; I better get my things fast before I hurt you even more."

"Yeah… You better."

Tony began quickly moving around the house, retrieving the remainder of his things that weren't already in the garage. He didn't notice Jen looking out the window, or Michelle seeing her from the car outside.

"So, that's her huh? She's even prettier than I imagined from what I managed to see on the picture you kept hiding from me," Jen said surprising him. Tony turned around and saw her looking at Michelle. He quickly went to the window and smiled to Michelle, closing the curtain.

"Yes, that's her. Just leave her out of it; don't go talking to her. She has nothing to do with this and she's suffered enough. None of this is her fault; she didn't do anything wrong. I'm the only person to blame for all of this mess, so please leave her out of it."

"I want to go and talk to her, but I won't. I don't need the aggravation. She can have you," she snorted. "I'll go take a shower before going to work. You pick rest of your stuff up and leave the keys on the counter."

Jen tried to kiss him on the lips, but Tony moved away. "Good luck Tony," she kissed him on the cheek, "and goodbye."

"Goodbye Jen. I'm sorry."

He watched her going into the bathroom and he heard her closing the door behind herself. Tony felt bad for the way he hurt her and promised himself one more time that he'd at least pay her back, since he could not undo all the damage he did over the past 6 months. He then quickly got his clothes from the wardrobe and placed it all in a suitcase with the rest of the clothes he had already packed. He then picked up his Cub's mug and the rest of his things that weren't in the garage already. The last thing he picked up was a small cardboard box he kept buried deep inside the wardrobe hidden under bunch of things he knew Jen wasn't using. When he was done, he left the keys on the counter and looked around. He never felt like he was home in this house and he was happy to be leaving.

A couple of minutes later Tony got out of the house; he was carrying two boxes and driving one suitcase with his things. Michelle came out of the car and walked towards him. He placed the boxes on the floor and cupped her face.

"Hey," Tony said, "I missed you."

"I missed you too," she smiled.

They kissed and hugged each other.

"You done with everything?" Michelle asked.

"I got everything out of the house; but there are more boxes in the garage. I'll go get them and we can get out of here."

"I'll put these things in the trunk. Hurry, okay?"

"I will sweetheart; we'll leave in a minute," he caressed her face and kissed her cheek gently. Tony turned around and went to the garage to pick the rest of his things up.

Michelle remained alone when he left; she looked one more time at the house where her husband lived and remembered the expression on that woman's face. She imagined how much this was hurting her and she kept imagining the months Tony spent here. Popping the trunk open Michelle started placing his things inside, trying her best not to think about things that bothered her and to concentrate on the happiness she felt because she got him back.

Tony went inside the garage and found the remainder of his boxes there; he took some adhesive tape and taped them up. He kept thinking how much this whole thing must be hurting Michelle, how many mistakes he made over the past months and he resented himself for it. Tony promised himself that he'd do it better this time; that he'd do what he should've done when he got out of the prison and that was everything in his power to have a normal life with Michelle. Going back to the car, he couldn't stop feeling guilty for behaving the way he did; so he promised himself to never hurt her again and to show her every day how much she means to him.

"This is it," he said when he reached the car.

"Okay, I placed other things inside the trunk. You can put those next to it all."

After placing everything inside, Tony closed the trunk, "You okay?" He asked noticing the tired and worried look on her face.

"I'm fine," Michelle smiled a bit. "I'm tired and I just want this part to be over with. I don't want to think about any of it anymore. I want us to go back to our old life and to have this past year and a half behind us. I want us to see it as a terrible nightmare we successfully woke up from together."

"We will honey; it's all I want too. I know how hard this must be for you, seeing all of this and seeing her… I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything," he said with obvious remorse on his face.

"It's okay; you don't have to apologize anymore…" she caressed his face.

"Yes I do; I know you don't want me to, but I do. I hurt you so badly and I hate myself for it. This is just one of the things. This house and her… I'm so sorry. I acted like a moron and did everything wrong. I still can't fully explain why I did it all. I doubt I will ever be able to, but I still want us to discuss it. I want to explain it all to you the best I can, so we can get over it and move on."

"We will Tony, we will. Right now, though, we have to go to my apartment and leave all these things there. You need to change and we need to eat something. We then have to go back to CTU and deal with all of that. We do need to talk, but we'll do it in peace, when all of this is done."

"You're right; I just want to make sure you know how much I regret all of this. I want to have a normal life with you. I want you to know how much I love you and how happy I am to have you back."

"I know that," she smiled wider this time. "I'm as happy to have you back; I love you as much. I have things I need to apologize for as well," Tony started to speak, but she placed her finger on his lips. "Yes I do," she kissed him, "but we'll take care of it all in time. The most important thing is that we're together again and nothing will separate us anymore. You have no idea how happy I am because of it."

Tony lifted her in his arms and hugged her tightly. "I'm as happy sweetheart. I love you so much."

"I love you too, so much. Let's go."

Tony and Michelle kissed one more time and got into the car, smiling to each other constantly.  
They drove off; leaving a big part of the past they wanted to forget behind.


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm finally posting this chapter, I'm so sorry for such long delay, my life got in the way and my writing muse took off. Hopefully my writing will be more regular in the future, if not I appologize in advance. _  
_I still adore both Tony and Michelle and I want to keep writing, so there will definitely be more chapters for both stories, when they'll be on depends on my life and my muse. _  
_I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think._

**2.**

Twenty minutes later Tony and Michelle arrived at Michelle's apartment.

"I'll go prepare the bathroom for you while you bring in the rest of the boxes," Michelle said.

"Okay sweetheart," Tony smiled. He started leaving when he turned around and kissed her passionately, "You have no idea how happy I am right now."

"Probably as happy as I am," Michelle replied, caressing his face.

"I'll be back in a minute."

Michelle remained alone and looked around her apartment, the place where she spent the six most horrible months of her life. She thought the time he was in prison would be the worst, but when Tony came home she thought it would all be over, that things wouldn't be same, but their life together would go on. However, that didn't happen. Michelle closed her eyes and remembered all the horrible fights they had while Tony drank, all the times he ignored her and pushed her away when she tried to help him. She remembered crying on her own, leaving him, feeling guilty about so many things and feeling more alone than ever before... Taking a deep breath Michelle tried her best to stop herself from thinking about it any further; she didn't want to cry, not now. "We're together again," she whispered, "everything will be fine this time around. We'll make it work."

Michelle went to the bathroom and prepared everything Tony might need. She then went to the kitchen, got their food out of the paper bags and started preparing it when the door opened.

"Hey," Tony smiled.

"Hey, got everything?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, where do you want me to put all of this?"

"The things you need you can put in the bedroom and the study. The rest of it you can put in the empty room I use to keep my boxes. I'll show you where when we come back from CTU. We'll deal with all of it then."

"Your boxes?"

"Yeah, I didn't exactly unpack."

"You didn't?"

"No, I only took out what I needed. I left the rest of it in the boxes."

"Why? You lived here for almost six months."

"Because," she took a deep breath, "if I did… then moving here on my own without you would be official. My life alone without you would be something I'd have to get used to, and I still didn't."

"Oh honey," Tony walked over to her and hugged her tightly. "I wish it all didn't happen the way it did. I feel so bad about the way I acted. I'm such a moron. I don't deserve to have you back."

"Yeah, you do. I wasn't a good wife; you felt bad and I couldn't help you. Instead of trying harder, I left. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you."

"No baby, stop saying that. You weren't a bad wife; you were the best wife I could ever dream of. You are the best thing that happened to me and I let you slip away. You tried to help me, you tried so hard for months, but I didn't let you. I'm the one who left you. This is in no way your fault, you did all you could. I'm the idiot one here," Tony said.

"No you're not, stop blaming yourself, you've been through hell. It's normal you acted differently."

"I still shouldn't have…" Michelle stopped him by gently kissing his lips.

"It's over. We're back together now, everything will be fine again."

"I promise you, I won't mess it up this time. We'll stay together forever. I won't let anything happen to us, I swear."

"I know. I won't let anything happen either," Michelle replied, caressing his face.

"Now, go clean up and change. I have to tell you something before we go back to CTU and we still have to eat."

"Okay sweetheart. Want to tell me first?"

"No, it can wait."

"Okay," Tony replied, cupping her face, "I love you so much."

"I love you too Tony, so much."

They kissed passionately and hugged each other tightly, remaining that way for a bit, still not believing what's happening.

When they released each other from their loving embrace, Tony went to the bathroom. Michelle went to the bedroom and sat on the bed; she then opened the top drawer of her nightstand and pulled the picture of the two of them out, along with an envelope.

She looked at the picture for a while, _"We can finally be this happy again,"_ she thought to herself while looking at it. The picture showed the two of them during one of their trips to New York. Even though both loved Los Angeles, they loved going to New York, especially because they got married there and returned at least once a year.

Michelle was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Tony standing at the door looking at her. Tony noticed and recognized the picture she was looking at and wonderful memories came back to his mind too. _"I'll make us as happy again," _he thought to himself. _"I was such an idiot to let it all die."_ He got angry at himself for ruining it all again. "I'll fix it all, starting now," Tony whispered and walked towards Michelle. He kneeled in front of her, surprising her.

"Hey," she smiled, "I got lost in thought, and I didn't even see you there. You okay?"

"I couldn't be better. I got you back, didn't I?" Tony replied, kissing top of her nose. "I'm just angry at myself for letting this die," he looked at the picture. "Those were the best years of my life."

"They were the best years of my life too. I wouldn't change one second of it all, aside from that damn last day," Michelle said looking into his eyes. "You don't have to be angry with yourself. We'll fix it all and we'll be as happy again."

"Yeah, we will," Tony replied, cupping her face, gently caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. "Starting now…" he looked into her eyes, "when you accepted to be my wife the first time around, after only 2 months that we were together, you made me the happiest and luckiest man alive. I've never stopped being one because of that, even though things went the wrong way. They won't this time, I promise, we'll be together forever. I know we've been back together for only couple of hours, but my love for you didn't change and it never will. I love you with all my heart, marry me again."

"Oh Tony," Michelle's eyes filled with tears, she leaned forward and kissed him passionately. Their lips didn't separate for a while. When they did, she said, "I felt as happy and as lucky to be with you, Tony. You're my whole life. My love for you didn't change either and it never will. I love you as much. But…"

"What?" Tony asked, surprised.

Michelle didn't say anything, she broke their hug and handed him the envelope she took out of her nightstand drawer. "Look at this," she said, looking at him.

Tony took the envelope from her hand, pulled the papers out and started reading them.

"I wanted to tell you right away, but I didn't know what your reaction would be."

As Tony looked at the papers in his hand, his smile got wider and wider.

He looked at Michelle obviously surprised and happy, "how can this be?" he asked.

"When you signed them the day I left, I took them with me."

"I know. I was sure you'd mail them right away. I wanted to go after you, to stop you and beg you to come back but I was so drunk that I…" he looked down.

Michelle cupped his face and made him look at her, "It's okay Tony, we're together now; the only important thing is that you still love me, that you don't hate me, resent me for leaving or blame me for everything that happened to us."

"Hate you, resent you for leaving, blame you for what happened? What happened on that day or after I came home is not your fault, none of it is your fault. How can I ever hate you? I love you with all my heart, I never hated you, not even for a second; I only hated myself. You fought for me and tried to help me. I'm the one who messed up when I came back; I gave up and pushed you away. After you left, I pretended that you're the one who gave up on me and left me; I thought it would make me feel better saying that, make me hate and blame myself less, but it didn't. It only made me hate myself even more, because I knew the truth. You didn't do a single thing wrong, you did everything right. I'm so sorry baby; I'm an idiot, especially because I made you think that any of this was your fault or that I hated you and resented you for anything. I acted like a fool, no wonder you thought all of that," he shook his head obviously angry at himself and completely upset. "You're my whole life, I should've treated you that way and not like I did… I'll hate myself forever because of it. I'm an idiot."

"No, you're not an idiot, stop calling yourself that," Michelle gently caressed his face. "I did think all of that and it hurt me so badly, but you shouldn't hate yourself because of it. I don't hate you, I never hated you; I love you. You were just hurt and angry because of everything that happened to you."

"Yeah, but that didn't give me the right to hurt you or to act like that. I should've been stronger for both of us. There's nothing you should blame yourself for. I hurt you so badly and you're the only thing that matters to me. I never wanted to hurt you and I did. I acted like a jerk and managed to ruin the only good and pure thing I had in my entire life. I don't deserve you."

"Yes, you do, stop talking like this. You didn't ruin anything, I'm right here. I love you so much. I'm ready to start our life again… and we're still married."

Tony looked at their divorce papers, signed but not sealed and closed. They were still married. He looked up at her again with a smile on his face, "how?"

"I kept stalling it, I wanted to mail them, but I couldn't. I couldn't stop the best years of my life, I couldn't… I figured since it took us 6 months to get married that 6 months should pass before it all ends. Since you didn't contact me about it... I waited 6 months to finalize our divorce."

Tony kissed her lips, "Never say that word again, never, never, never. We'll never be apart again." He hugged her tightly, burying his face in her neck, "my wife, my beautiful, incredible wife; I can't believe we're still married. I can't believe I got you back."

Michelle's eyes filled with tears, "my wonderful husband. I'm so happy I got you back too. I can't believe any of this," she kissed his cheek several times. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, my love, more than I can say."

They remained hugging for a while, happy to be together again and happy to still be married.

"I almost forgot," Tony said. He released her from his arms and went to one of his boxes getting the little cardboard box out. He brought it to Michelle and kneeled back in front of her. "I kept this hidden from her, but I kept going to it every day, at least once a day."

He opened the box revealing bunch of their pictures, dried iris, their flower, and a little box which Michelle recognized right away.

"You saved all of this?" she asked.

"Of course I did. It kept me going," he smiled. "I have more in a storage compartment where I placed the furniture and everything else from our apartment after it was sold. I went there a couple of times too, but it hurt too much, so I just locked it up. I wanted to mail you the key or even bring it to you, but I kept stalling. I was waiting for 6 months to pass too, for the same reason you did. I placed the money of the sale on our joint account, as you probably know."

"No, I didn't know. I had no idea you did it. You bought that apartment for us. I assumed you took the money for yourself and I assumed you'd call me to get the rest of my things."

"I bought that apartment for us; you helped me with it. We did everything in it together; it was yours as much as it was mine. I never even thought about taking the money for myself. Now we'll get our old things and furnish our new apartment," he smiled, kissing her. "How come you don't know the money was there? Didn't you use the account?"

"No, it was our account and I figured we'd take care of it eventually. I kept pushing it all away; it hurt too much. I couldn't force myself to deal with anything that had to do with our separation. The very idea was killing me. You didn't work and I knew you'd need money, so I assumed you'd use it until you got back on your feet. You had no money and that account is as much yours as it is mine. Why didn't you use it?" Michelle asked.

"I only used it that one time when I placed the money there. I know it hurt you and I'm so sorry for everything I did. I never wanted to hurt you and I hurt you so badly," he caressed her cheek. "No matter how much I needed the money, I didn't want to use our account. It was money we saved and earned together and it didn't feel right for me to use it on my own," Michelle started talking, but Tony stopped her. "I know half is mine," both smiled, "but it still didn't feel right. It hurt me so much that I didn't want to go near it. This whole situation hurt us both and I'm the only one to blame for this entire mess. I'm so sorry," he wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her close and buried his face in her neck. "I don't want to lose you again."

"You'll never lose me baby, stop apologizing. It's not just your fault," Michelle stopped Tony from talking this time and smiled, "No, it's not. We'll discuss it all slowly and take care of our future. We'll make it work together this time," she said, gently caressing his hair.

"Yeah, we will. I love you so much; I so missed saying it." He kissed her neck and kept repeating, "I love you, I love you, I love you," between the kisses.

"I missed saying it too and hearing you saying it. I love you too, so very much."

They again remained hugging for couple of minutes without saying anything.

"You were leaving for good?"

"Yeah, I was. I couldn't stand that life anymore. I was leaving LA forever. I wanted to visit you before I left and bring you the key, but I kept thinking you'd be better off without me. I thought about mailing it to you, but I wanted to see you so badly. You have no idea how much I wanted you back in my life, but I didn't want to show up and ruin yours by doing it, not after hurting you so much. Even though the idea of you moving on without me hurt like hell, I kept hoping you were better off. I hated myself for hurting you so much… I'm such an idiot, I wish I could turn back the time and change it all. I wish I came after you months ago, like I wanted to, but like a coward I am didn't do. I was such a moron…"

"Oh honey, stop bashing yourself so much; it's not all your fault and you're making it sound like it is. I wanted you back in my life too, so badly and I didn't come to you either. I left, even though I never wanted to leave, but I thought the same thing you thought, that you were better off. There was never anything to forgive you, stop apologizing. We were both hurt; I was crying for months about it all. I kept blaming myself for everything; I never blamed you. I thought I should've fought more too, that I didn't help you enough or do anything right. I'm so sorry for leaving, and for handing you the divorce papers. I just couldn't look at you like that, it hurt me so much. I kept trying my best to help you, but nothing I did seemed to work. You kept looking worse daily and kept pushing me away further and I just couldn't…" her eyes filled with tears.

"Sweetheart, don't…"

"No, wait. Let me finish. When you came home from prison at first I thought we'd be okay, but the more time went by, the more you started drinking. You couldn't even keep a job because of it… the man that was with me wasn't you anymore. You only looked like you. I couldn't recognize you anymore or reach the real you. I couldn't find a way to the man I love; the man I married; the man I live for. The man I'm looking at right now," she gently caressed his face.

"When I couldn't help you, I thought you'd be better off without me because I kept blaming myself for everything. I wanted to stay and help you, but you kept pushing me away. That's why I left, I couldn't look at you fall apart and I couldn't find a way to get you back or make you feel any better. I ended up thinking that if I couldn't do you good while I was with you, that I'd do you good by leaving. I do have stuff to apologize for; I'm the one who walked out on us. I'm so sorry for leaving Tony; I should've fought harder. I'll never leave again, no matter what, I promise. I just always thought we could handle anything together, but..."

"We can and we will. Stop blaming yourself or apologizing, you did everything right and fought for me. You kept trying to pick me up, make me respond. I was the one who gave up, not you. I left you months before you left me and it's no wonder you did. I was acting like a moron and I drove you away, but I learned my lesson. From now on things will be the way they were supposed to be to begin with after I came out of prison. Only our life and future together matters, nothing else, just like it did before that day. I was so selfish and stupid that I didn't realize that or what I had when I got out. In a way I wanted to protect you from the problems that were accumulating in my head, but then it all came out wrongly. I was an idiot for feeling alone with my problems, when I had you to help me. I should've come to you and told you everything that bothered me, let you help me, like you always have, instead of burying all my problems inside me and pushing you away. I'm so stupid for hurting you that way and for making you think I blamed you, when that even wasn't on my mind. I love you; I always loved you and I never blamed you for anything, because none of it was your fault and I ended up…" he took a deep breath, clearly upset.

"It's okay sweetheart, it's okay," Michelle gently caressed his face. "We were always there for each other; there was never anything we couldn't help one another with. You always comforted me and helped me the best and I was your comfort and help. We were always that way and that's how it should've been. It doesn't matter though; we'll fix it all now. Just never think you're alone again; I'm right here. You were never alone and you'll never be, for as long as I live. I love you; you're my husband, I'm your wife and I want to help you with anything. Just promise me you'll talk to me about everything again, like we used to do."

"I promise honey. I know you wanted to help me; I knew that all along and I should've come to you and talk to you... I still don't know why I acted that way. I'm such an idiot."

"Stop saying that, you're not an idiot. We'll do it better this time around. We got our second chance and we'll use it."

"Yes, we will," Tony replied kissing her.

They wrapped arms tightly around each other and remained that way for a while again.

"Though I don't want to, we should go eat now because we still have to go back to CTU. It's getting late."

"Yeah, we need to get going, but not yet; I have to give you something first."

"What?" Michelle asked, even though she knew what he wanted to give her and her heart jumped for joy.

Tony reached inside the cardboard box, pulled out the little box that Michelle recognized right away and opened it. Their wedding rings were inside it.

"I was going to put this on back on your finger once we get married again, but since we never divorced I want to do it now, if that's okay with you."

Michelle just smiled and extended her left hand towards him.

Tony placed her ring back on her finger and smiled, kissing her hand.

Michelle then took his ring from the box and took his extended hand in hers, placing the back ring on his finger. "They're back where they belong," she smiled.

"And they're never going anywhere again," Tony replied happily.

They kissed passionately.

"One last thing," Tony said. He got up and took the divorce papers from the bed, tearing them up into a thousand little pieces. "We'll never need these again."

Michelle got up and hugged him tightly, "no we won't baby."

Tony spun her around happily. "Now we can go eat."

"Yeah, let's go eat."

Tony and Michelle came into the small kitchen and Michelle took two plates out of the cupboard while Tony got the rest of their dinner out of the bags.

"I see you still don't cook," Tony said when he saw how new her stove is.

"No, I don't," she giggled, "but I know all the fast foods and diners 3 blocks to the left and 3 blocks to the right."

"I don't doubt that," Tony laughed.

"Now I have you back though, so you'll cook for me again."

"You bet I will," Tony replied, kissing her.

They carried their food to the couch and sat down to eat.

Tony and Michelle were so hungry by this point that they ate quietly, but they kept looking at each other and couldn't stop smiling. It was quite obvious on both of their faces how happy they were to be together again.

When they finished eating Tony wrapped his arm around Michelle and pulled her close to him.

"You were really leaving LA forever? Where were you going?" Michelle asked; the idea of how close she came to never seeing him again kept ringing in her head.

"Yeah, I was. It's a long story, but don't worry, I'll tell you all about it, we don't have time now."

"Did you have something waiting for you? Did you like where you were supposed to go? You weren't leaving just to get away from me, were you?"

"I had a job waiting for me, I still do. And no honey, I wasn't leaving to get away from you. Even though I liked the idea, a lot, I hated going anywhere without you. I wanted to go with you and have a new life with you. I kept trying to find a way to get you back, but I don't have to anymore. I have you all to myself again," he kissed her passionately. "We want to start our live over with a fresh start and that might be it, if you like it. We'll discuss it in details and make a decision together, okay?"

"Okay, we will, but you have to tell me all about it in details later," Michelle smiled and hugged him tightly, leaning her head on his chest.

"I promise. I so missed doing this; I didn't eat a single meal happily while I was in that house. Each night when I would go to sleep, I couldn't fall asleep; I couldn't find a good position to sleep in. I missed you. I missed every single little thing about you, every single thing we did together, everything. You became part of me and I didn't feel whole without you. I almost couldn't function at all; I missed you so damn much."

"You became a part of me too, I was barely functioning. I buried myself in work, so I didn't have to think about it, but it didn't help me much. I had such a hard time eating and sleeping too. I couldn't even go shopping without thinking about you, or walking on the beach and in the parks, nor do anything we did together. I missed you so much it hurt," she buried her face in his chest. "I missed your scent, I missed your hand in mine whenever I walked outside, I missed your warm body next to mine; I missed every single little thing too. I'm so glad you're with me again." She looked up into his eyes, "tell me I'm not dreaming."

"I'll do something better," Tony cupped her face and started kissing it, bit by bit until he reached her lips. They kissed passionately until both ran out of air. "I want you so much. I missed making love to you. I missed feeling you close to me."

"I want you too; I missed making love to you as much," Michelle replied between the kisses, "but we can't, not now. We have to go back to that damn place. We stayed for too long as it is."

"Yeah we do, but remember, it will all be over soon. Soon that life will belong in our past."

"Oh yeah," she smiled. "I can't wait for it all to be over once and for all."

"I can't wait either and when we come back, I'll show you how much I missed you and how much I love you," Tony said, kissing her neck.

"I can't wait to show you the same things myself," Michelle replied, stroking his hair gently.

"Mmmm, I so want to remain here with you, hold you in my arms forever."

"I don't want anything else either, but we promised Bill we'd come back. We have to do those last few things we didn't take care of before we left. I also have to take care of everything that has to do with my resignation."

"I know. I know…" Tony replied, kissing her again. "We should go; Bill is probably waiting for us."

"Yeah, I'm sure he is. All I want is to go back to CTU and finish everything. Then I want to come back here and fall asleep in your arms. I haven't had a good night sleep in a year and a half."

"I haven't either sweetheart, but we'll sleep as well as we used to from now on; I promise. We'll also wake up as happy, and be as happy as we used to be. Starting tomorrow the past year and a half will seem like a horrible nightmare we woke up from together."

"Yeah, it will," she smiled. "I still can't believe this; I still can't believe I got you back."

"I can't believe it either. When Jack asked me for his help and then if I wanted to go back to CTU after I rescued him, I couldn't even imagine something this wonderful would come out of it."

"Yeah, we'll have to thank him for it."

"We sure will."

"We should go now. We have so much more to talk about but there's no time now. I really need to talk to you about Bill first and get that out of the way."

"No you don't…" Tony tried.

"Yeah, I do, but we don't have time now."

"Okay, but you don't have to, Bill told me what happened and…" Tony tried again.

Michelle just kissed him, "later," she smiled.

"Okay, later. We'll have all the time in the world to talk about everything."

"Yeah, we will," Michelle caressed his face. "I love you."

"I love you too baby," Tony replied, kissing her again. "Let's go."

Tony and Michelle arrived at CTU fifteen minutes later. Getting out of the car Tony walked to the passenger's side and opened the door for Michelle. He gave her his hand, Michelle smiled and took it. Tony kissed it and gently pulled her out of the car. They hugged each other tightly and walked hand in hand towards CTU.

The minute they walked closely to the building Tony and Michelle realized that something was wrong. CSU team marked 2 areas of the parking lot, in each area there was a large pool of blood. On the second area, there was a body in a body bag.

Michelle looked at Tony, both of them had same worried look in their eyes. They both knew something was seriously wrong and both were sure it had to do with the day they thought was over. After the way the whole day went, both were surprised how well it all ended, but now they realized that it didn't end as well as they thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**3.**

_Finally update for this story, I apologize to those of you who waited so long to see how the story goes on. My life got twisted upside down and I didn't have energy to think, let alone write. I really hope I'll be more regular in the future._

_My beta quit on me after I made this big pause, so this is me on my own without any help, hopefully you'll like it as much now too. I apologize for grammar and similar errors in advance, writing in foreign language isn't always easy for me._

_I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, as always let me know what you think._

Tony and Michelle walked towards the CSU team.

"What's going on here?" Michelle asked, showing them her badge.

A tall man with orange hair replied, "There was a shooting, two men ran out of the CTU building, they chased each other around the parking lot and shot several times at one other. They both ended up shot multiple times, one man is dead," he said, pointing to the body bag. "The other is severely injured; he was rushed to the hospital. I don't know what will happen to him, but when the ambulance took him away, he didn't look good. He lost a lot of blood and was shot multiple times."

Michelle looked at Tony who looked pale. She knew he was thinking the same thing she was; they were both sure it involved Jack somehow and that it had to do with what happened earlier that day. They both hoped that the man in the bag wasn't their friend.

"Do you know who these men were?" Michelle asked.

"No, they didn't give us that kind of information. We're only here to gather evidence, that's all. You'll have to ask someone from inside," orange haired man replied.

"Of course, thank you for the information."

"No problem ma'am," the man said and returned to his job.

Michelle walked over to her husband and took his hand, squeezing it she said, "We'll find out who it is in a minute, sweetheart."

Tony looked at her and smiled weakly, "I knew this was going to happen to him sooner or later. I'm sure one of these men is Jack. I should've been here for him."

"Sweetheart, you saved his life once already today. You had to go home and change, we needed to talk. We were only gone for about two and a half hours. The whole thing seemed over, you couldn't have possibly known that this was going to happen." She gently caressed his face, "You did everything right. Please, don't blame yourself for anything; it's not your fault in any way."

"I love you." Tony gently kissed her lips, "I won't, I promise. I'm just scared for Jack, that's all."

"So am I honey," Michelle replied, hugging him tightly. "Come on; let's find Bill, so we can find out what actually happened here."

"Okay," Tony kissed her hair.

Tony and Michelle released each other from their hug and took one another's hand again as they started walking towards CTU. They found Bill Buchannan on the door of the building.

"Tony, Michelle, I was just about to call you."

"We're sorry if you waited for us longer than expected Bill, we had so much to deal with that we lost track of time."

"It's okay; I knew you'd be gone for at least three hours, so you came early…" he smiled.

"Thanks for letting us go Bill, we really needed it and it helped us so much."

"No problem, I'm glad it helped."

"What happened?" Michelle asked.

"It's Jack, he's on his way to the hospital now, but it doesn't look good. He was shot by Secret Service agent."

"Secret Service?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, they sent him to arrest Jack and hand him over to the Chinese."

"That's ridiculous," Tony protested.

"I know it is, but that's how things went on. We all know what happened today and we all know what Jack did. He's a hero, not a criminal, but…"

"Yeah, poor Jack, after all he did…" Michelle shook her head. "The CSU man told us something about a shooting on the parking lot, what went on exactly?"

"Jack was in the locker room when Spaulding arrived. Someone must've tipped him off about Spaulding's real intentions. At first Jack appeared to be going with him, but as Spaulding prepared to cuff him, Jack grabbed a fire extinguisher, bashed Spaulding on the head with it and ran out the door. He managed to escape to the parking lot where they started shooting at each other. Jack shot and killed Spaulding, but somewhere during the exchange of gunfire, Jack was hit in the head. His injuries are severe; they don't think he'll make it."

"Oh, no," Tony said, looking even paler than before, for a second he looked like he'll be sick.

Michelle squeezed her husband's hand and leaned her other hand on his chest, she looked into his eyes for a second to make sure he's okay; Tony wrapped his free arm around her and smiled a bit.

Michelle continued, "This is horrible, poor Jack. Someone needs to get to the bottom of this. This man didn't just come up with the idea of killing him, someone had to order it. First of all, none of us did anything wrong, we did what was right, it had to be done, sending Secret Service to arrest him is…" she sighed. "Besides, one thing is arresting Jack and handing him over to the Chinese for interrogation, killing him is totally another."

"Yeah, there will be a full investigation, but I doubt we'll get to the bottom of it. I have a suspicion that this is going high up and I doubt we'll be able to dig that high," Bill replied.

"Someone has to pay for this," Tony said.

"Yeah, they do, but again… I doubt it."

"I doubt it too. I have my suspicions already, but there isn't much we can do… everyone will claim they had nothing to do with ordering Jack's murder and there's no way to prove otherwise. I doubt they left any paper trail and Spaulding can't tell us anything since he's dead. This is such a tragedy. Poor, poor Jack, all he did was his duty, he saved this country countless times and this is the thanks he gets," Tony said angrily.

"Yeah, it's a real tragedy," Bill replied.

For couple of moments none of them said anything thinking about their fallen friend and colleague.

Bill's eyes fell on Tony and Michelle's hands and he saw their rings shining on them.

"You two were fast. You obviously had couple of busy hours. Congratulations," he said, pointing to their rings.

"Yeah, we had couple of busy hours," Michelle smiled at Tony, who smiled back happily. "We didn't get remarried though. There was no need, we were never divorced. I never mailed the divorce papers and Tony had our rings, so we just placed them back on our fingers where they belonged and ripped the papers."

"That's wonderful, congratulations again. You two belong together."

"Thank you Bill," Tony said. "Now we should take care of the rest of our business here and help in anything we can. Both Michelle and I are very tired and we really want to get some sleep."

"Of course," Bill said.

"Bill, the main thing I want to do is handle my resignation. Tony and I will deal with the remaining things we originally came back to do. We'll also help with whatever we can, especially in dealing with what happened to Jack, we owe him that. I'll stay until you find my replacement, of course. However, all Tony and I want is to start our life away from this world as soon as possible and what happened to poor Jack only sped up our decision even more."

"Of course, we'll deal with all the necessary papers right away. There shouldn't be any problems. You'll probably be able to leave in a month, two at the most."

"Good, because I really want to leave this life far, far behind. The sooner, the better," Michelle said.

With that the three of them went inside the CTU to take care of all the business they had to take care of.

Almost 3 hours later Tony and Michelle were in their car again, both were exhausted, but they wanted to see their friend first. While they were in CTU they received a message from the hospital, which wasn't good. Jack was out of the surgery but was in a coma with little and no chances of recovery. That saddened them both, so they decided to go see him before going home.

Michelle looked at her husband and leaned her hand on his knee, squeezing it without saying anything. Even though the news about Jack saddened her a lot, Michelle knew how much worse Tony must be feeling. She didn't want to say anything; she only wanted to show him that she's there for him.

Tony squeezed her hand, "poor Jack. I know I couldn't have possibly known what would happen to him, but I still wish there was something we could've done."

"I wish so too, and if we were there we would've helped him as usual, but we weren't Tony. There's no need for you to feel guilty about not being there to help him. We couldn't have known what would happen."

"I know and I don't feel guilty about that because I know we didn't ditch helping him on purpose and we would've done everything humanly possible to help him if we were there, so... I feel horrible about what happened to him and so sad, but I'm so happy about us right now, so happy I can't think about anything else for more than couple of minutes at a time. I feel reborn because I got you back," he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, "and then I remember him and I feel bad about being this happy. If it weren't for him this never would've happened, I wanted to thank him again and I wanted him to see us this happy. It's not fair what happened to him."

"No honey, it's not. I wanted to thank him too, but Jack would be happy for us. He would be glad that we're together and he wouldn't want us to blame ourselves for not being there for him or to feel guilty about being happy."

"Yeah, I know he wouldn't. He was so glad when I told him that you and I decided to give each other a second chance. We both laughed about the circumstances that led us to the decision and he was so happy for us."

"Exactly, so no matter how miserable we both feel about what happened to Jack right now, we shouldn't feel guilty about being happy about this. Our happiness about getting each other back is a separated thing from what happened to poor Jack. He wouldn't want us to feel guilty about being happy to be together again and our happiness for it shouldn't be affected by the tragedy that happened to him, or the sadness we feel about it."

"You're right and it won't my love; nothing can affect my happiness of having you back."

"I love you so much, Tony," Michelle gently kissed his cheek.

"I love you too Michelle, so much," Tony replied, squeezing her hand.

Visit to the hospital was traumatic for both Tony and Michelle, seeing Jack in that state upset them both. Jack was hooked on countless tubes and his head was covered in bandages. Doctors told them there was almost no chance for him to wake up from his coma. They still wanted to wait for a while to see if he'd recover, but even though they managed to stop the bleeding into his brain, it was swollen due to all the trauma and they didn't expect that to happen. Even if it did, they didn't expect a full recovery, he would be an invalid for the rest of his life. Doctors advised them to call his immediate family as soon as possible.

Tony and Michelle left the hospital soon after that. After arriving to Michelle's apartment they curled up next to each other on the couch. They were both tired but tragedy that happened to their friend kept them awake.

"Poor, poor Jack," Tony said.

"Yeah, I know; it's so horrible. I hated seeing him like that."

"I know; it doesn't seem real."

"No, it doesn't."

"I have to call Kim."

"It's too late to call her now though; they're probably asleep."

"Yeah and we both have to get some rest first too."

"We should, I'm really tired."

"So am I honey," Tony kissed her hair. "We're up for over 30 hours now."

"Yeah, but 30 hours ago I was so miserable. I didn't have you in my arms, I didn't see you for almost 6 months and I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"I was as miserable 30 hours ago and now I have you back. I felt like a different man while I was apart from you, someone I didn't recognize or like. I finally feel like my old self, I'm finally whole again."

"I feel whole again too," Michelle replied. They held each other tightly for a while, kissing passionately.

"Do you think we should notify Audrey too?" Michelle asked, after some time.

"She probably knows by now. I didn't see her in CTU when we got back, but I'm sure someone told her personally or someone told Heller. Jack was technically still working for him."

"Yeah, you're probably right. We'll find out in the morning if someone told her or not and then we'll talk to her. She should know about what happened."

"Yeah, she should know."

"She lost both men she loved in one day," Michelle said. "I know how she must be feeling right now, when I thought you were killed in that car…" she buried her face in his chest. "I came so close to losing you forever and I had a great part in it."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't do that. Don't blame yourself for what happened."

"How can I not? I didn't do what she told me to. I almost killed you, if you were in that car for real… If Jack didn't find you…" Michelle kissed him over and over, her eyes started filling with tears.

"Honey, you made the right choice, you couldn't do anything else."

"I know, but I could've lost you…"

"You didn't, I'm right here and I love you," Tony gently caressed her face.

"I love you too, so much," she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Don't feel guilty about any of this, none of it your fault. You did everything right."

Michelle looked at him, "and what happened to Jack isn't your fault. You did everything right too. You couldn't have known what would happen to him unlike me..."

"Listen to me, you didn't do anything wrong. If you did what she wanted you to do we wouldn't be talking here right now, because that bomb would've exploded over our heads and we'd all be dead. You thought I'd be okay, you knew Jack was there, you thought I'd be rescued."

"I was sure you'd be okay, I kept hoping you'd be. Everything was set so you would get out of there safely, but there was always a chance that you might not. Despite that chance I couldn't do it Tony; I started doing what she told me to, but then I realized what would happen if I go through with it and I couldn't. I told them about it; no matter how much I wanted to save you, no matter how much I loved you and no matter how much my decision hurt, I couldn't do it. I would've died without you, but I still couldn't do it. You do know that my decision didn't have anything to do with my love for you, don't you? You do know that I love you more than anything?"

"Of course I do honey. I know your decision had nothing to do with that. Neither of us could've lived with that choice twice, you did the right thing. Stop worrying sweetheart."

"Okay, I will, for now… as long as you know how much I love you."

"I do baby, I know it just by looking into your eyes. You don't even have to say it," Tony smiled, caressing her face. "We both did the best we could and now it's all over. Do you know how much I love you?"

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Michelle smiled. "It's enough to look into your eyes too."

"I know I hurt you so badly, but you do believe that I want to make it right, don't you? You do know how much I hate myself for hurting you that way? I will make it right this time, I won't mess it all up again, I promise. I'll never hurt you again. I never wanted to hurt you, I so hate myself for it."

"Baby, we talked about this already. You did hurt me, but I don't hate you and there's no reason for you to hate yourself either. I know how much you love me and I know you'll do everything right this time around. There's no reason for us to live in the bad memories from the past anymore. We should keep good memories only, forget bad ones and move to our future together."

"Yeah, we should. You should listen to what you said and apply it on yourself too," Tony smiled.

"I will baby," Michelle replied, caressing his face. "My decision will bother me for a long time, but our future is the only thing that matters now and I'll focus on it. What's done is done and it's all over now."

"Yeah, it is, I'll focus on our future too. I just wish it could've ended better for poor Jack though."

"I wish so too. He finally settled down, he shouldn't have ended this way."

"Yeah, but when you think about the life he led… this is somehow an expected end for him."

"I know. He got himself from one bad situation to another. One more dangerous than the other, something was bound to happen to him…"

"Yeah, I know. I wish it didn't, I wish he could've had a better end."

"I do too honey," Michelle kissed him. "Poor Kim will be heartbroken. She's finally happy, this will devastate her."

"I'm not looking forward to telling her about it, but I should be the one to tell her."

"Yeah, you know her for a very long time. You and Jack were like brothers, you're closest to family she has now."

"I know, Jack's mother died when he was a young boy. His father and brother died 10 years ago in a terrible car accident; Jack was the only one who survived it. Kim will be all alone now, if poor Jack doesn't make it, I'm the only one left from her childhood. I know her since she was a young girl, when Jack and I first started working together all those years ago."

"I'll be there with you when you tell her, if that will help you," Michelle gently caressed his face.

"You have no idea how much that will help me. Knowing you'll be by my side for the rest of my life in good and bad situations is making me feel like the luckiest man alive."

"Having you with me is making me feel the same way, baby. Let's just hope there will be more good than bad situations."

"Yeah, let's hope so, much more."

They remained hugged for a while, not saying anything, gently kissing and caressing each other.

"Tony…"

"Yeah?"

"I really want to talk to you about Bill…" she said looking into his eyes.

"You don't have to say anything about that Michelle; he explained it all to me."

"I know he did, but I still want to get it all out and clear it all up."

"Okay baby, even though you don't have to."

"I really want to Tony, because I want you to know that there was never anything between us. I didn't even go out on a proper date with him. We went to couple of dinners after work, after he asked me couple of times to go with him. I only went because I felt so alone when I left you, but I didn't go because I wanted something to happen between us. It never even crossed my mind; I just went because I needed a friend to talk to. You were on my mind constantly and I couldn't even imagine myself with someone else. I doubt I ever would've been able to, no matter how long we would've been apart. You're the only one for me."

"Oh Michelle, you're the only one for me too," Tony kissed her. "I'm so sorry for acting like a jealous moron earlier. When I saw him putting his hand on your shoulder and after finding out that you two worked together for a while, I just… My mind started making stories; jealous, stupid stories even I don't believe, but that's only because the minute I saw you I wanted you back. When we started talking more calmly, I thought I had a shot of talking to you about how I still felt and finding a way to get you back. Then he showed up and I just… I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, I know you are; your reaction really hurt me though. That's why I reacted the way I did. I didn't mean to snap at you like that, but it really hurt me when you thought I was with him. It hurt me enough that you thought I got in a relationship with someone so soon, but you thought that he and I were sleeping together while we were still married… You know you're the only man I ever loved and made love with… You know how much I love you, how in love we were and still are… and you though I could move on so fast after what we shared… and go to bed with someone else while we were still married… while you were in prison for saving my life… You know me better than that… For a second I thought you don't know me at all, that you never did, if you could think that and… It hurt so much, I just… and my mind just… I'm sorry for my reaction, Tony."

"I'm an idiot and I deserved even worse reaction, you reacted calmly; you should've slapped me over the head and throw me in CTU clinic as mentally ill, because that's what I deserved. I hope you know that I didn't think you would ever cheat on me or sleep with anyone while we were still married; that was my crazy mind talking, I didn't believe any of the stuff I said, I was acting like a crazy idiot. I could never think that, not in a million years. I know you too well to think any of that; I spoke without thinking what I was saying. I love you so much and I know how much you love me and I know you could never cheat on me, or be with someone else so fast. I know it all baby and I didn't mean it, I swear. I regretted it all the minute I said it. You have no idea how bad I feel because of this. I'm so, so sorry."

"I know and I forgave you long ago, but it still hurt."

"I know it did and I'm so very sorry. I was acting like a jealous husband when I lost every right to act that way, especially because of the way I treated you before you left. I acted like a moron with you while I was living with someone else and you had to talk to her only couple of hours later. I'm so sorry."

"I know you are, honey," she caressed his face. "Hearing her voice on the phone really surprised me, it hurt me too. She said she was the woman you were living with and I thought I lost you forever. Being back with you, even in CTU only, was so nice. When we worked together again, it felt like old days and I was so happy for a while, even though the situation was the way it was. Then she called and I…"

Tony kissed her, "I'm so sorry. I know that really hurt you. She meant nothing to me, honestly. What I told you before is the whole truth. I'm so sorry about all of it. You're my only love, my whole life and I never stopped loving you, I'll love you forever."

"Yeah, I know, stop apologizing. I love you too and I always will," she hugged him.

"I still can't believe I got you back," Tony kissed her. "I so want to show you how much I love you and how much I missed you. I want you so badly."

"I can't believe I got you back either, I missed you more than I can say. I want to show you how much I love you too; I want you as badly," Michelle replied between the kisses.

Tony looked into her eyes, "We can't though. Not now. We've been up for ages, we should go to sleep and then make love tomorrow. I want to make love to you for hours and I want us both to be rested for that."

"Yeah, we should be much more rested. After not being with you properly for nearly a year and a half, I won't let you go so easily," Michelle replied, kissing him passionately, "but no matter how much I want you, I can barely keep my eyes opened."

"I'm barely able to stay awake too. I want to hold you in my arms and look at you for hours and hours, but we should go to sleep now."

"It's all I want to do too, but we should sleep, we're both tired," Michelle smiled. Getting up she extended her hands towards him, Tony took them and she pulled him up, hugging him tightly.

They held each other for a bit longer and then walked to the bedroom.

Tony went to his suitcase and dug out a shirt while Michelle got into her nightdress; when he turned around he saw her looking at him with a huge smile on her face.

"I can't believe I'll finally sleep in your arms again," Michelle said, sitting down on the bed.

"And I can't believe I get to hold you again," Tony replied, sitting down on the bed too.

He leaned his head on the pillow and said opening his arms, "Come here my love."

Michelle lay down in his arms, leaning her head on his chest; both wrapped their arms tightly around each other.

Tony buried his face in her hair and took a deep breath, "mmmm, you smell so nice, same as I remember. I missed holding you and feeling your scent. I always loved to burry my face in your hair and wrap my arms around you."

"You smell as nice, just like I remember too; I missed feeling your scent all over me even after you'd let me go. I missed having you hold me like this too and feeling your arms around me. I'm so happy to have you back."

"I'm as happy to have you back sweetheart," he gently kissed her hair. "I find you beautiful no matter what your hairstyle is or whatever you're wearing, though I prefer when it's noting," he winked, making her giggle, "but I miss your curls."

"You loved them so much that in time they became your curls and they reminded me too much of you. That's why my hair is this way now. It hurt too much to look at them and remember your fingers going through them, so I removed them."

"Oh honey," he kissed her again, looking sad.

"It's okay baby, now when I got you back, I'll get them back too, don't worry. Tomorrow I'll wash my hair and they'll be back. I don't have to go to hairdresser or anything, it's easy to bring them back," she smiled gently caressing his face.

"Good," he replied.

"I'm glad you removed that patch of hair from under your lower lip, I didn't like it too much to be honest, even though you didn't look bad with it. You can't look bad with anything," Michelle smiled. "I just like it better when your face is clean."

"I know you do," he replied, "one of the main reasons why I removed it. If you saw me couple of months ago, you would've hated how I looked. I had longer facial hair and totally short haircut. This is grown."

"I still wish we found each other back then though."

"Oh baby I wish so too," he kissed her, "but we found each other now."

"Yeah, we did," Michelle smiled kissing him back. "I'm so glad it grew back. I love your hair; don't ever cut it shorter than this again," she continued later, going with her fingers through his hair.

"I won't, I promise. I look like a thug with short hair and that patch under my lower lip."

Michelle giggled, "You do a bit."

Tony caressed her, "I love your smile. I missed it so much. Promise me you'll smile forever."

"Promise me you'll stay with me forever."

"I promise."

"Then I promise to smile forever," Michelle replied, kissing him passionately.

They held each other for a while looking into one another's eyes thrilled to be together again, kissing and caressing.

"Even though I can't take my eyes off of you and I want this moment to last forever, we better try to sleep now. We had a very long day."

"Yeah, but I got you back," Tony gently caressed her. "Horrible things happened and I wish it all went differently, especially for poor Jack. But holding you in my arms again, I feel like the luckiest and happiest man alive."

"No matter how many things I wish went differently, I feel the same way too," Michelle smiled. "I'm scared to close my eyes, I keep thinking this is all a dream; I don't want to wake up alone again."

"I don't want to either, but we're not dreaming. We'll wake up in each other's arms every morning for the rest of our lives and we'll go to sleep the same way."

"Yeah, we will. We have all the time in the world and we'll spend it together. Let's try to get some rest."

"Yeah, we should."

"I love you so much," Michelle said happily.

"I love you too, so much," Tony replied, kissing her hair. "Good night."

"Good night."

Couple of seconds later, both feel into a first deep and peaceful sleep after a long time. Even though a lot was still going on in their minds, Tony and Michelle finally felt happy and whole again.


End file.
